Opinion

• Opinion

  We Muslims Must Fight Anti-Semitism In Our Own Communities

  Anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise across the country. Last week alone, three Orthodox Jews were attacked in Brooklyn in vicious hate crimes, just the most recent attacks in a year that saw two synagogue shootings. From spray-painted swastikas to anti-Semitic messages written in the sand on beaches to the attacks in Crown Heights to…

  By Zaid Jilani

  4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Bloomberg’s False Anti-Semitism Smear Proves The Danger Of Cancel Culture

  This morning, news emerged that a Trump Labor Department official had lost his job just 18 days into it, after what the reporter called “anti-Semitic Facebook posts” came to light. Leif Olson, who started at the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division on Aug. 12, was accused by Bloomberg News of writing on Facebook that…

  By Cathy Young Sep 3, 2019 | 5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Fighting BDS Isn’t Courageous. It’s Authoritarian.

  In recent attack ads against the nonviolent, Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, politician Stav Shaffir alleged that the group and its work were just like Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump. In an article and online video, she claimed the BDS movement represents “anti-progressive” politics “based on fear and isolation.” As a member of the…

  By Yuli Novak Sep 3, 2019 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson I supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in October 2023 — not anymore

  

• Rob Eshman The staggering hypocrisy behind Trump’s deal to free the last living American hostage

  

• Nora Berman How the Oct. 7 aftermath splintered the New York Dyke March

  

• Dan Perry It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump

  

• Emily Tamkin This week proved it: Trump’s approach to antisemitism at Columbia is horribly ineffective

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  This Rosh Hashanna, Jews Must Commit To Ending Climate Change

  You may have heard this one: The story is told of the melamed, the wise schoolteacher, who was walking along the back streets of Chelm one dark night when he was accosted by a masked bandit with a large pistol. “Your money or your life!” the bandit said. “Take my life,” the melamed replied. “I’m…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 3, 2019 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  A Lot More Jews Are Anti-Zionists Than You Think

  Nineteen out of twenty American Jews are Zionists. At least, that’s the perception you would get if you read the breathless coverage of a recent Gallup poll about American Jewish political attitudes. The fact that the poll found that 95% of American Jews “have favorable views of Israel” was cited by a variety of commentators…

  By Joel Swanson Aug 30, 2019 | 8 min read
• 
  Opinion

  No One Cares About Attacks Against The Orthodox Because You’ve Been Dehumanizing Us For Decades

  You’ve all heard the story: A Haredi Jew violently assaulted in broad daylight somewhere in New York City. It happens so often now, with what is almost a chilling regularity, it’s virtually impossible to miss. According to the NYPD, anti-Semitic hate crimes have skyrocketed in the past year; the 145 complaints so far in 2019…

  By Eli Steinberg Aug 29, 2019 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  This Labor Day, Jews Must Recommit To Workers’ Rights

  The fight for working people — for labor and against income inequality — is picking up steam. Workers’ voices are being heard. Organized labor unions in the transportation sector are standing up. Teachers unions are being revitalized. Non-traditional walkouts at places like Google or Wayfair are increasingly common. Both the right and the left have…

  By Ari Fertig Aug 29, 2019 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Why Does No One Care About Violence Against Orthodox Jews?

  No one should have been surprised yesterday morning, when a man assaulted Rabbi Avraham Gopin, 63, with a brick in Crown Heights Park — knocking his teeth out and injuring his face, before fleeing the scene. Disturbing images of victim’s bloodied clothing after being brutally attacked with a brick. Chassidic victim still hospitalized with broken…

  By Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt Aug 28, 2019 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Israel Is Now Trolling Us Palestinians On Social Media

  You may not know that in addition to living under occupation and blockade, Palestinians must endure trolling on social media by the same forces that oppress us. It’s certainly not comparable to the daily, systematic humiliations, traumas, and abuse involved in living without civil rights. But there’s something downright dehumanizing about having to watch these…

  By Muhammad Shehada Aug 28, 2019 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Yes, Anti-Zionism Is Anti-Semitic. But It’s Still Protected Speech.

  Sending a child off to college this year will be especially fraught for American Jewish parents. In addition to all the usual worries, they have to contend with an uptick in anti-Semitism sweeping through our nation. Last week, President Trump accused Jewish voters who vote Democratic of “either a total lack of knowledge or great…

  By Pamela Paresky and Samantha Harris Aug 26, 2019 | 8 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Liberal Jews: Stop Trying To Prove You’re Loyal. Disloyalty Makes Us Great

  Last week, American Jews found themselves defending their loyalty to the U.S. after President Trump said that Jews who vote for Democrats display “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” By contrasting the Jewish people in Israel, who “love him” with American Jews, who “don’t know him or like him” and who “don’t…

  By Joel Swanson Aug 26, 2019 | 6 min read